The camera is dead, long live the camera!

05 Sep 2019 - 24 comments | Translate title into English

I saw this rather interesting news shared on social media, and thought it may interest also peeps around here:

➽ Camera sales are falling sharply by Om Malik

So, supposedly phone cameras are taking over. Whether this is a bad or good thing depends on the point of view. Someone could call that as a "progress", and some may see it as a "paradigm shift". Or it can be even a "philosophical revolution".

We all can't be masters of photography and professionals, but that should not stop us from bringing beauty to our lives, share it, and seek for it on art of others. However, that of course should not cause much negative cons either, like pollution in form of energy wasted and tossed away outdated electronic applications, or selfish mishaps caused by taking for example selfies on railroad tracks.

In the late 1970s Susan Sontag saw photography as a way to live in the past, as an intention to record and preserve everyday life into collections of “jarred” memories. Today digital photography, and amateur photography on social media is more like a way of living, to experience and share the presence. Barely no one is interested on what someone else did last summer, unless it is presented today, as new to them, right now, and right on front of their faces. Only pictures posted today are interesting.

We could even see photography today with terms of "wabi sabi". The point then is not to try achieve something permanent, immortal and grand, but to enjoy the life as it would be a long tea ceremony. One cup of tea will not last forever, but you can always try to make some more of it.

Boarischa Krautmo, Heidiho, John FitzGerald, Amelia and 5 other people have particularly liked this article

24 comments - The latest ones

Valfal

Great article, Sami. I have to agree with what the article says; while I love my Nikon SLR, nothing compares to the convenience and ability of the phone camera to grab photos in places where you can't use your bigger SLR. Since the quality is in many ways comparable, I use my phone camera to capture low light images that would take me several minutes to set up with my Nikon. I can't get over the high quality of the images coming from my phone camera. As a matter of fact, it's hard to tell the difference in quality between the two anymore. That being said, if you need to make a large poster out of an image you take, then you need that high pixel count that a phone camera cannot provide (yet).

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Valfal

Even the high pixel count depends on the phone camera. For example Nokia 7.2 gives 48 MP.

But they still does make possible such things as very extensive tele and choice of aperture. And on most of the phone cameras the user interface and usability are just crappy! For example lack of dedicated shutter button is the worst there is.

5 years ago.

Frank J Casella

I think about the saying 'what goes around, comes around'. Because even though more pictures have been made since the invention of the iPhone camera in the history of photography, there is now a large movement of digital photographers who never learned on film who are buying film cameras. Also, I am part of a movement who tossed the smartphone and went back to the flip phone (yes, with updated features). I still use my DSLR but never use the screen on the back, because I learned on film and how to see with my camera. So, yes, camera sales are down but I think they will come around again in a new way.

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Frank J Casella

I personally have many times planned to take a step way back, and start shooting with cardboard pinhole cameras. But as long as I can't afford to have a proper home lab, I have to continue on this path I have now chosen. So, I will continue investigating the possibilities of phone camera photography and inexpensive pocket cameras.

As Marshall McLuhan has said: "The medium is the message." And currently I wish to see where this medium leads us. It is sort of a researchers curiosity that drives me to make things.

5 years ago.

Frank J Casella has replied to Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club

Yes, the phone camera is evolving, and the point-and-shoot doesn't seem to be dying. When I had an iPhone the best app was at www.darkroom.co they are working rally hard to make it rival the discontinued Apple Aperture software. I loved it.

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Frank J Casella

Pity it does not seem to be available for Android =(

I use Snapseed, which is based on NikCollection. After testing many Android apps, I find Snapseed as the best. And that is because it keeps the EXIF. I suppose DarkRoom does as well.

5 years ago.

Stormlizard ^club

Phone cameras will never replace the Professional photographers choice with enormouse Tele - Telemacro lens.
Phone cameras have become better but are verylimited in abillity as they only have 'Digital focus'

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Stormlizard ^club

Yes, of course. Professionals ave to have proper tools.

The sad thing currently is that because of decreased markets, the prices of proper tools are increasing:

shotkit.com/camera-industry-stats

And that is bad news also for enthusiast amateur photographers.

5 years ago.

Bergfex ^club

Today I was with my wife at the Spartan Race in Oberndorf. She was photographing with her pretty new Samsung Galaxy, I with my three year old Nikon 7200.
She is currently deleting most pictures because they have become blurred, or the motif (our grandson) is no longer in the picture because of the shutter release delay. I took hundreds of shots in HighSpeed mode and already recognized during the quick review that many good shots are included. Tomorrow I'll develop a few.

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Bergfex ^club

Reasons and examples when phone camera really is not the right tool! =)

5 years ago.

William Sutherland ^club

Great article Sami. True one's smart phone is so much more convenient to grab a photograph but the one thing that is consistently overlooked is a camera brings a level of professionalism and quality that a phone cannot. Of course social media doesn't care since the vast majority of their members simply take snap shots with little thought given when creating them since their main purpose is to post selfies that promote themselves and to share images with friends and family, in which quality and artistry are not the motivating factors.

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to William Sutherland ^club

Thank you William. Although, it still do come down to one's ability to adapt with the available gear. Just today I discovered this wonderful Youtube video by Daniel Milnor. So, what ever gear one has, and whatever one shoots, "the best camera, is the one that you have with you!" (Chase Jarvis) ;-)

5 years ago.

Amelia ^club has replied to Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club

I loved this video, Sami. I agree with so much that he said - particularly the 'fumbling' syndrome

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Amelia ^club

What comes to me, I still like to believe there is a perfect "bridge camera" out there somewhere, which comes with a good zoom and image quality.

But definitely it is not this one! =D
youtu.be/hi7bkJzW5Q4

5 years ago.

Spo

Täyttä asiaa, Sami! Yrjö Kallinen, a great thinker and a pacifist defence minister who survived four death sentences once said that we don't think, our environment thinks in us. I guess that goes with photography as well. We shoot what others shoot with the esthetics and gear the others have. That is, we shoot ourselves for the web. That solitary, one-way self-promotion is called communication because we all do it. It is like a park full of dogs all barking past each other.

5 years ago. Edited 5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Spo

Ha ha ha! =D

Good addition to this conversation. Yes, amateur photography indeed can be seen as a "barking contest" as well. So, we definitely should practice our listening skills as well.

5 years ago.

Janet Brien ^club

GREAT ARTICLE!! I don't have time to read the comments but I'll be back, it's a great topic.

Fact is, by the end of our Vancouver Island trip I was taking more phone pictures than any others. I used my beloved Canon + 100mm macro lens only a few times in the entire 6 weeks. I did use my Sony a lot and enjoyed its versatility so much. Phones can take very good pictures now and with simple panoramas that look fabulous, it's hard not to use when there are perfect scenics for them.

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Janet Brien ^club

I personally still like the idea of bridge camera with extensive enough zoom. There comes moments when one wants to capture far away details, and then needs to capture wide angle views. But then it always comes to the problem of loosing aperture stops, increaded ISO, and noise...

➽ 'Noise in your photos? Who cares...' by James Popsys: youtu.be/gxxrZhjo0TE

Maybe within 20 years digital noise becomes as vintage and preferred as film grain.

5 years ago.

Heidiho ^club

Crappy+funny: in the most museums photo cameras are forbidden - smartphones are allowed ... hahaha ...

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Heidiho ^club

Yes, that is absurd! =D

5 years ago.

Boarischa Krautmo ^club

good article - I became lazy, too, and often take only my telephone....

5 years ago.

Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club has replied to Boarischa Krautmo ^club

You mean this? =D

5 years ago.

Boarischa Krautmo ^club has replied to Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club

;-)))))

5 years ago.

Bergfex ^club has replied to Sami Serola (inactiv… ^club

* * * * *

5 years ago.

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The camera is dead, long live the camera!